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Adventures in dog walking,  Anna and Elsa,  Fur parenting,  Phil

Adventures in dog walking, part one

Since Anna and Elsa came to our home at the end of December, it’s been cold and with lock-down, Sandy and I haven’t ventured with the girls beyond our local park.  But, the week after Easter when lock-down began to ease, we were thrilled to start exploring a bit further afield…

I started with a walk with family friend, John, and his dog, Coffee, on Thursday 8th April. Oh how exciting; not the old field, not the green just by the house, but rather a trip to Dorney, Windsor.  Just a couple miles from home.

Puppy training challenge number one: getting into the car.

Anna and Elsa do not like getting into the car. They pull on the lead as we get to the car door and I have to pick them up and put their seatbelts on quickly, so they don’t jump right back out. You would think that we were taking them somewhere terrible – they remind me of trips to the vet with our old dogs, Amber and Ubu.  With them, as soon as they came to the vet’s front door they started crying and pulling to avoid going in.  And, when we overpowered them, they took to cowering under the waiting room chairs and crying. Anna and Elsa are exactly like that with getting into a car.

Puppy training challenge number two:  stay and heel.

When we arrived at the tiny little car park where our walk started, as soon as the car door opened, the girls couldn’t wait to get out.  They were pulling as hard as they could, so without delay John helped me put their leads on and we got moving – otherwise known as the pups taking us for a walk! Stay and heel are definitely some tricks we need to practice.

Puppy training challenge number three:  bicycles are not evil.

I’d never been on this walk before, and it was lovely. I was impressed how clean the area was despite the fact that there were no bins anywhere. Obviously the people who travel to use these paths are smart and considerate enough to take their rubbish home with them. Walking along the path, surrounded by trees, we found puppy training challenge number three… the pups are scared of bicycles. With cars, Anna will hide behind me, but with bicycles, both she and Elsa try to chase them away. Now, while they won’t bite at the bicycle, they will bark (screech) and chase at high speed, so you have to keep careful watch at all times. It made me pity the cyclists and so grateful for their patience.  You’d never guess Anna had the pace of a greyhound until you see her spy a bicycle in the far distance!

This was the first time that Anna and Elsa met Coffee dog.  Coffee is very similar in size and shape to a dog that tried to attack Anna and Elsa (and me) a month or so ago in our local field, so I was a bit leery of how the girls would get along with her, but, after an initial fit of barking like crazy things, they soon settled down and had some fun chasing each other around and sniffing each other. Like many things in life, sometimes you need to face a fear to be able to get over it and find it’s actually nothing to be afraid of.  We’re so happy that before too long, Anna and Elsa were comfortable around Coffee and enjoyed playing with her.

Puppy lesson learned: some birds fight back!

There was another first on this first day in this new environment. We found a large field with a large area of water. The field often has cows but today was empty. They really had no reaction to the water initially, but then we all heard the unmistakeable sound of the geese in and around the water.  As soon as Anna and Elsa saw them, they raced over, just like they’ve tried to do with birds in our local park, and splashed straight into the water. Whether a good idea or not, they had no fear of the geese or the water, although they returned pretty darn quickly – unlike the birds in our local park, geese tend to fight back!

By that point in the walk, it was time to work our way back to the car.  When we got close to the car park, and the bicycles and people there, we put them back on lead. Our first visit to this lovely spot will definitely not be our last.  Hopefully we’ll be able to share it with more friends in future.

The adventure that day didn’t quite end there.  We put Anna and Elsa in the back of the van for the ride home.  Just a couple roads from home, one of them had a messy accident because of their car nerves… so near, yet so far.  It meant some fast acting from me to make sure they didn’t accidentally step in it, and a clean out of the back of the car as soon as we’d parked.  Hopefully with a few more car journeys we’ll get these nerves put to rest.

What about you?

Do your dogs suffer from car sickness? How have you overcome it? Or, do your dogs think bicycles are evil, too? We’d love to hear your hints and tips. Please reach out and share your thoughts below.